Wwii Marines

Saturday, 23 July 2005 15:53 Last Updated on Saturday, 23 July 2005 15:53 Written by Hoboken 0 Comments

VMFA(AW)-242 Bats gather to honor past
Every squadron and unit within the Marine Corps has its own proud legacy filled with the heroic acts accomplished by its Marines in and out of battle.

WWII or the Second World War was the result of global military conflict that included most nations including the super powers that were divided into two opposing military alliances. This war has led to mobilization of several hundreds of military personnel thus making it a remarkable war in the world history.

The era of world war has been the cause of increased use of artillery. Several guns and rifles have sprung up during this period. The typical definition of a gun is not standard and varies depending upon the nation and branch of service for which it is used. A gun can be distinguished from other firearms depending on the crew served weapon.

At one time land based artillery was known as cannon while sea based naval cannons were called guns. However the term gun has now been morphed for almost any tube launched projectile firing weapon used by boarding parties and marines. In day to day usage gun is often referred to as a projectile weapon using a hollow tubular barrel with one end closed as a means for directing the projectile and firing takes place in a flat trajectory.

The typical military firearm is a long gun that can release either single or multiple projectiles at a very high velocity through a controlled explosion. This firing is made possible with the help of gases that are emitted by rapid and confined burning of a propellant. The most common propellant that is used in traditional military firearms is black powder. However, the same is not being used now. The reason being black powder emits waste products due to partial combustion of propellants. Hence, it is been replaced by smokeless powder cordite or other propellants.

In order to increase performance efficiency of these guns, Modern firearms are being designed with rifled barrels. This helps in creating a spin to the projectile thus resulting in improved flight. Apart from this, smoothbore barrel is also designed when the projectile is stabilized by other means. Typically interior barrel diameter and associated projectile size is means to identify variations in guns.

The word gun is often used as a synonym to firearm however, in military usage; firearm would mean a piece of artillery with high muzzle velocity. Hand held fire arms like rifles, carbines, pistols and other small firearms are rarely referred to as guns.

Use of firearms has increased tremendously in the recent years only. Until mid 1800's projectiles and propellants were separate components that were used in manually loaded firearms such as rifle, pistol or cannon. For convenient usage, people even wrapped small quantities of powder and bullet in a paper package, known as cartridge. Cartridges usage was very high during World War one as it has become primary form of ammunition for small arms, tanks and artillery.

About the author: Bill Snyder has a love for WW2 and military history...so much so that it inspired him to design and create t shirts based on these interests. To see his designs go to: http://achtungtshirt.com and http://achtungtshirt.wordpress.com.